"From the Earth to the Moon" (1998) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.9/10   

Director:

Michael Grossman

Writers:

Erik Bork (episodes)
Jonathan Marc Feldman (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

5 April 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | Thriller

Plot:

Dramatized portrayal of the Apollo manned space program.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Space Program | Apollo 8 | Apollo 1 | Astronaut

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 18 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Himself - Host / ... (12 episodes, 1998)
Nick Searcy	...	Deke Slayton (10 episodes, 1998)
Lane Smith	...	Emmett Seaborn (6 episodes, 1998)
David Andrews	...	Frank Borman (5 episodes, 1998)
Daniel Hugh Kelly	...	Gene Cernan (5 episodes, 1998)
Stephen Root	...	Chris Kraft (5 episodes, 1998)

Runtime:

60 min (12 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (Parts 3, 4, 7, 8) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (Parts 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 - 12) | Netherlands:AL | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) (2006) | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

DeLand, Florida, USA

Company:

Clavius Base

Trivia:

Several of the Houston flight controllers are played by actors reprising the same roles from the film Apollo 13 (1995).

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Armstrong is training in the LEM landing simulator at Ellington Field near Houston Texas, mountains are visible in the background in one scene. Ellington Field is at 32 feet MSL (Mean Sea Level) and there are no mountains or even large hills in that area.

Quotes:

Guenter Wendt: We drill! We drill the hell out of everything. We drill and we drill until we know every step in our sleep - and then we drill some more.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV)

A wonderful reminder

The best thing about this series is the fact that it will either teach or remind a great many people about the accomplishments of the race to the moon. Sadly I feel that this is one of the most misunderstood and under appreciated events in human history, thought of by many today as some sort of great patriotic publicity stunt by an insecure America. I feel I can almost read Tom Hank's mind and feel his desire to make people understand the difficulty and significance of the achievement. The series does a wonderful job of placing the entire series of events in context with the political and social climate of the day.

We now live in a world where most of us simply take it for granted that we will probably someday travel to, explore and perhaps even colonize other worlds in our solar system and even beyond. This is the only true because hundreds of thousands of people contributed to proving beyond doubt that it can be done. The race to the moon changed us, even if we don't quite realize it, and this series is a reminder of that.